Chicken Mozzarella in Chilli Spaghetti Sauce with a Cheese and Potato Pie

Posted 2016-09-23 by finy ⇒ follow

I love chicken parmigiana which is basically what this is without the ham! I also love creamy potatoes, or actually potatoes done any way, so I have combined the two in a meal.

I have used cottage cheese as well as ordinary cheese in the potato dish in order to cut down on fat.

Preparation Time: 25 minutes
Cooking Time: 50 minutes
Makes: 3 - 4 servings

Ingredients
For the pie
About 325 g potatoes, peeled
¾ cup low fat cottage cheese
½ large egg, beaten (use half on pie and half on chicken)
1 - 2 spring onions, chopped
¾ cup (about 100 g) cheese, grated

For the chicken
3 pieces breast fillets
½ cup bread crumbs
½ egg -half used in potato pie
4 slices mozzarella
3 tsp butter
1½ cups spaghetti sauce (I used one with chilli)

Method
For the pie

Make the pie first as this takes far longer to cook than the chicken.

Put the peeled potatoes in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer, covered for about 15 - 20 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes, or until they are just done (not soft).

Preheat the oven to 190°/170° fan forced.

Mix the cottage cheese, half the beaten egg and some pepper in a processor, stick blender, or blender for about 15 seconds.

Grease a 23 cm pie dish, or similar, with some cooking spray. Put a third of the potatoes in a single layer in the dish.

Spread with half of the cottage cheese mixture.

Combine the spring onions and grated cheese, and add one third of this.

Add another third of the potatoes and the remaining cottage cheese mixture.

Top with the remaining sliced potatoes and sprinkle the remaining spring onions and cheese on top.

Bake, uncovered, for about 35 - 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with the chicken, or can be eaten as a snack on their own.

For the chicken

Start making the chicken about 10 minutes before the potatoes are ready.

Pound the chicken down to flatten it.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Dip each piece of chicken in the beaten egg half, and then in the bread crumbs.

Put the butter in a fry pan, and add the chicken pieces when the butter is hot. At this stage do NOT overcook the chicken or it will be tough. Cook for a few minutes each side, or until almost done.

Take the chicken out of the pan.

Add the spaghetti sauce to the pan, and heat thoroughly.

Put the chicken back in.